Electric load-distributer.



I. E. KING.

ELECTRIC LOAD DISTRIBUTER.

I APPLICATION FILED FEE. 24| |913. 1,199,571.

Patented Sept. `26, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

NIH AA 1. E. KING.

ELECTRIC LOAD DISTRIBUTER. APPLicATloN FILED FEB. 24, 1913.

Patented Sept. 26, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

:deeg

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JESS E. KING, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 WALTER C.PEARCE, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC LOAD-DISTRIBUTER.

Application filed February 24, 1913.

To UU whom [z5 may Concern.'

Be it known that I, Jnss E. KING, of Syracuse, in the county ofOnondaga, in the, State of New York, have.. invented'new and usefulImprovements in Electric Load- Distributors` of which the following,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings` is a full. clear,and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in electric loaddistributers as applied more particularly to separate sources of currentsupply merging into a common system of electrical distribution in whichexcessive and widely varying momentary loads are normally carried b vone of the sources of current supply, while the other source ismaintained as an emergency reserve power to supplement any deficienciesin the source ot' normal supply. For example, in the operation ot'municipal and other large public or private electrical distributingsystems, where a widely varying load and maximum current consumptionmust be continuously1 provided for, it is frequently advisable andcustomary to normally supply such system with purchased current fromsome distant or more advantageous and economic source than could beobtained solely through the operation of a local generating plant and tokeep the local plant in readiness to supply the system with thenecessary current in case of failure of the normal supply. Thispurchased current is usually paid for on the basis of. maximum or peakloads for relatively short time-intervals above a predetermined orestimated average load value fir a much longer period otl time and ittherefore follows that if these peak loads, as registered or recorded byany of the well known registering or recording instruments, areexcessive in any one or more of the shorter periods, the cost for thelonger period will be proportionately excessive even though theindicated load value for the greater portion of the longer period may befar below the average.

In the drawings z-Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of an electricaldistributing system and load distributer connected therein, as appliedto alternating current generators; Fig. 2 is a similar diagrammatic Viewof :r direct and alternating current distributing system, and anotherform of load distributer connected therein.

The invention as illustrated diagram- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 26, 1916.

Serial No. 750,452.

mat-ically in Fig. 1 of the drawings is applied to a distributing systemcomprising a receiving station A, receiving purchased current from adistant source, or electric generator T, over one or more circuit liliesl, and delivering the same or a transformed current over one or moretransmission lines 2 to any number of similar or ditl`erent translatorsor electric distributing systems 23, to which is also electricallyconnected an auxiliary current generator ll for supplying current tosaid system when desired. For the sake ot' convenience, the generator Tmay be referred to as the main original source of supply, while thegenerator lrmay be referred to as the supplemental original source ofsupply. The station to which the purchased power is supplied may betermed the receiving station, while the. supplemental source ot' supplyInay be termed the supplemental station, both sources of current supplybeing connected to the common distributing system.

The generator B, herein illustrated, is of the alternating current type,and may be driven by any suitable prime mover (l, such, for example, asthe usual governor controlled steam turbine engine. for impressingcurrent on its line connection 4 with the distributing system throughthe medium of suitable switches and other apparatus whichit may benecessary or desirable to incorporate in such connection.

The purchased current in the distributing system is normally takenthrough the receiving station from the main generator T at a price basedupon any maximum momentary load which may be registered or recordml inexcess of a predetermined value during a stipulated period of time, eventhough the load factor for the greater portion of this period isconsiderably below -such value which results in a large aggregate yearlyloss to the purchasers` proportionate to the difference between theexcess load periods and stipulated load periods.

As previously stated, the supplemental generator is operated inconjunction with the main source of current supply delivered at thereceiving station. so as to be in readiness to supply the necessarycurrent to the distributing system in case of failure of the mainsource, and my purpose is to take advantage of this correlation ofgenerating sources'to maintain a more constant load of any predeterminedvalue at any point in the circuit over which the purchased power iscarried, by automatically distributing any and all exce s loads abovesuch value to the supplemental generator. rlhis automatic control may beaccomplished by a large variety of devices according to the nature ofthe current, that is, whether it is direct or alternating, single phase,two-phase or three-phase, but for the purposes ot' illustration, I haveshown diagrammatically a Kelvin balance D, as installed at thesupplemental station, and electrically connected by a system of, in thisinstance, six wires 5 and 13 to transformers (i and the line at thereceiving station. The Kelvin balance employed in connection with thisparticular embodiment oi my invention consists of four stationarycurrent coils c, g andh and two movable potential coils a and t). The potential coils are mounted on opposite ends ot the arm c, which througha bearing f at its center is t'ree to move between the stationarycurrent coils'c, and g, t. A contact linger 7 is fastened yto themovable arm c at a point between the bearing and the potential coil a.Adjustable screw contact points S are spaced apart to form anintervening air gapI or neutral insulating space for the contact finger7. r1`he Kelvin balance is connected in circuit with the necessarytransformers, as shown, and by means of the adjusting screws j), thespring m is set so as to balance when the desired load is on thereceiving station; that is the potential coils@ and Z) will take aposition midway between the current coils c, and f/, it and the contactfinger 7 will take a posi tion midway between the contact points S whenthe desired load is on the receiving station.

toperating through a worm gear y' and a spring connection with thegovernor I ot the prime mover or engine C is in this case a reversibleelectric motor E, which has two tield windings 3/ and z. These Fieldwindings are so connected in circuit as to permit operating the motor ineither direction,v depending on the electrical connection made b v theautomatically operated reversing switch 10, which consists of twosolenoids o and n arranged to act on the single armature Z which is apart of the single pole, xdouble `throw switch 10. Solenoids 0 andk nare electrically connected by conductors, ll to the Contact points 8,the contact linger 7 being connected by wire l2 in circuit with thecontacts 8. The current sources t land t for operating respectively themotor E and the automatically operated reversing switch l0 are in thiscase batteries.

lt is now clear that the movable element of the Kelvin balance willchange position when the load on the receiving station changes from thevalue for Which the balance D is set. This change of position will ytact finger 7 makes Contact with the other` terminal 8 the automaticcontrolling switch will be reversed to cause said motor to be driven inthe opposite direction. The movement of the motor in one direction willthrough the worm gear j and the connection it' shift the governor I ofthe prime mover or engine C to open the engine throttle increasing itsspeed and thereby cause the generator B to take on any excess ot load;while, on the other hand, a driving ot' the motor E in the otherdirection will close the engine throttle and thus reduce the load on theengine and its generator and allow the load to be carried by thereceiving station.

As previously stated, this reversal in operation of the motor acts uponthe governor otl the' prime mover, tending to vary its speed and cause acorresponding variation ot the load on its generator in proportion tothe variation of load on the receiving station above or below thepredetermined value at which the Kelvin balance is set, thereby keepingthe purchase power on the receiving station source of supplyapproximately constant. For example, if the load on the receivingstation exceeds the normal value, it will auton'iatically cause themotor to ro`- tate in one direction to open the engine throttle tendingto increase its speed, and thereby cause the generator B to take on suchexcess of load, while on the other hand, if the load on the receivingstation falls below the normal value, the action of the motor will bereversed to reduce the load on the engine and its generator, and allowthe load to be carried bythe receiving'station supply. This is aparticularly simple and highly efficient method of maintaining a substantially constant load on the receiving station, consequently keeping thecost of such power within -the stipulated price of the predeterminedload period factor, thus resulting in a large yearly saving to thepurchasers of such power, but it is evident that the same object may becarried out by many other devices influenced by load variations in onepart of the distributing system, which will automatically maintain anapproximately constant load in any part of such system, or cause anyexcess load above a predetermined value in one part of the system to beautomatically taken over by another part of such system. Furthermore,when the receiving and supplemental stations are separated many milesapart, it may be desirable or necessary to use transformers of ricamihigh ratio, and low secondary current rating in order to reduce copper.investment and losses in control lines. -In this event, it willvbenecessary to use at "--the supplemental station step-up currenttransformers, thereby making it possible to use a standard Kelvinbalance. f

The load distributing device thus far described is adapted to be usedmore particu,- larly Vin connection with an alternating currentdistributing'system in which vthe load distributer is controlled-by aKelvin balance, but it will be clearly evident to those skilled in theart that the same degree of control maybe obtained through the medium ofa graphic watt meter. i

y In Fig. 2 of the drawings, I have shown my invention as applied to asystem includ* ing a direct current distributing system which issupplied with current by a rotary 'converter It, receiving alternatingcurrent Afrom the; receiving station A through the transmission lines 2.In this application of lmy invention,v there may be distributing 25,A

lines 3, leading directly from the transmis- "sionlines-Q, ify desired.The rotary con-I verter R delivers direct current to the dis `tributinglines'a, which are also electrically connected to a supplemental directcurrent generator K. The direct current generator K is drivpn by a primemover. vIn this directcurrent system, the arrangement of the substationcontrol line is similar to that shown in Fig. 1 as far as thesupplemental station at which is installed a Kelvin bal! ance D. ThisKelvin balance has but two contacts m and n, one of which m is movableand normally held out of engagement with the contact nby aspring mf, thetension of which may be adjusted at will by any well known means;Leading from these two contacts m and n are two wires o terminating inan electrically operated short circuiting switch S, having anelectro-magnet S which is energized through a resistance r from somesuitable external source as t. baid resistance fr' is short-circuited byan electrical connection between the two contacts m and n of the Kelvinbalance.

The switch magnet S is provided with an armature s carrying a contact uco-acting with a relatively stationary contact u, but normally held outof enga-gement therewith by a spring fv, which is attached to saidartact n, thereby short circuiting the resistance 1' 4and strengtheningthe current in winding s to operate the switch for short circuiting theresistance F in the iieldcircuit of gen erator K, thus causing thisgenerator to supply current to the system, thus reducing the load on thereceiving station, which in turn causes the Kelvin balance to disengagecon tacts 7 and 8, thus weakening the magnet s to permit the switchcontrolled thereby to reinsert the resistance F to again reduce thevoltage and output of generator K. The reduction in output of generatorK again increases the demand on the receiving station, which againactuates the Kelvin balance D which cycle of operation is repeated, theperiods of engagement of contacts m and fn, having such relation to theperiods of disengagement that the excitation of generator 7e ismaintained at the proper value at all times to keep the power demand onthe receiving station at a constant value.

From the above description, it will be apparent that in the twoembodiments shown and described of my invention, I have provided adistributing system, wherein a main original source of supply and asupplemental original source of supply independent of said main source,operate in conjunction for supplying power to a distributing system anda load distributer consisting of a Kelvin balance, or its equivalent andParts actuated thereby, is operated by the increase or decrease in thepower delivered by the main source of supply above or below apredetermined amount and this load distributer varies the powergenerated and supplied by the supplemental power supply to correspondwith the fluctuating power demanded by the distributing system and thusthe demand on the main supply is maintained substantially uniform.

What I claim is:

l. The combination with a main original source of supply, and asupplemental original source of supply independent of said main sourceof supply and operating in conjunction with said main source of supplyfor supplying power to a system, of a load distributer operated by theincrease or decrease in the power delivered by the main source of supplyabove or below a predetermined amount for varying the power generatedand supplied by the supplemental power supply to correspond with thefluctuating power demanded by the system whereby the demand on said mainsupply is maintained substantially uniform.

2. Thecombination with a main original source of supply, and asupplemental original' sourcefof `supply independent of said main sourceof supply. and operated in conjunction witlrsaid vmain source of supplyfor supplying power to a system, of a load distributer including aregulator for varying the powersupplie'd'by said supplementall powersupply, and devices operated by the increase or decrease in the powerdelivered by the main source of supply'above or below a predeterminedamount for actuating said regulator to vary thel power generated andvsupplied by said supplemental power supply io corresaond with thefluctuating power demanded by the system whereby.. the de"- mand on saidmain supply is maintained substantially uniform.

3. The combination with a main source of supply, a generator operatingi-n conjunction with said main source of supply for supplying power to asystem, and aprirne mover for actuating said generator, ofaloadfdistributer comprising a regulator forivarying the power generatedby said generator', and devices controlled by the power supplied by themain source of supply for actuating said regulator to vary the powersupplied by said generator, when the de-l mand of the system is above apredetermined amount, to correspond with the iiuctuating power demandedby the system, whereby the demand on said main supply is maintainedsubstantially uniform.

4. The combination with a main source of supply, a generator operatingin conjunction with said main source of supply for supplying power to asystem, and a prime mover tor actuating said generator, of a loaddistributer including a regulator for varying the power generated -bythe generator, and devices operated by the increase or decrease in thepower delivered by the main source of supply above or below apredetermined amount for actuating said regulator to -vary' the powersupplied by the generator to correspond with the iiuctuating powerdemanded by the system whereby the demand on the main power supply ismaintained substantially uniform.

5. The combination with a main source of supply, a generator operatingin conjunction with said main source of sunoly ior supplying power to asystem, and a prime mover for actuating said generator, said prime moverhaving a governor for controlling the power of said prime mover, of aload distributer controlled by the power supplied by said main source ofsupply and operating through said governor to auto- -matically cause thepower demanded above a predetermined amount by said system to besupplied by said generator.

6. The combination of a main source of supply, a generator operating inconjunction with said main source of supply for supplying power to aSystem, and a prime mover for actuating said generator, said primemove-r having a governor for controlling the power of said prime mover,of means for adjusting said governor for varying the power supply, anddevices controlled by the power supplied by said main source of supplyfor operating said governor adjusting means whereby said generator iscaused to automatically furnish the power demanded by the system inexcess of a predetermined amount.

7. The combination with a main source 3fsupply, a generator operating inconjunctionl with said main source of supply, for supplying power to thesystem, a prime mover for actuating said generator, means for varyingthe output of `said generator, and means responsive to the powerdelivered by said main source of supply for controlling said generatoroutput varying means.

8. ln combination, a system of distribution,va main source of supply forsaid system, a generator operating in conjunction with said main sourceof supply for supplying power,to said system, means independent ofosaidmain source of supply for actuating said generator, means for varyingthe output of said generator, and means responsive to the powerdelivered by said main source of supply to said system for controllingthe generator output varying means.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.`

JESS E. KING.

Witnesses:

H. E. CHAsn, Eva E. GREENLEAF.

